Stern fishing system

ABSTRACT

A stern fishing system utilizing a power block and purse seine net which is launched and retrieved from the stern of a fishing boat. When the net has been pursed, it may contain fish such as tuna, as well as a number of porpoises. For ecology reasons, the porpoise should be released unharmed. Such release is accomplished by driving the fishing boat forward so as to cause the edge of the net most aft of the fishing boat to be temporarily submerged permitting the trapped porpoise to leap from the confines of the net and back into the open sea.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the art of fishing, and moreparticularly to a novel stern fishing system utilizing a power block anda purse seine net.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A fundamental and novel advance in the art of fishing is disclosed in myU.S. Pat. Nos. 2,733,530 and 2,733,531, issued Feb. 7, 1956. Thesepatents relate to an apparatus and method for drawing a purse seine netalongside a fishing boat by means of a power block suspended from a boomon the boat. The use of such power block has greatly expedited thehauling-in of the net alongside the boat whereby it has been possible tosubstantially reduce the number of men required for a commercial fishingboat crew. Although the use of such power block permits the netted fishto be brought alongside the fishing boat in a minimum period of time,certain disadvantages are inherent to the setting and retrieving of thenet from the side of the fishing boat.

A particular problem is freeing porpoise trapped in the net with theother fish. It has been proposed that the fishing boat and the net bemaneuvered so as to permit the fishing boat to "back down" relative tothe net so as to cause a length of the cork line and hence the upperedge of the net to become temporarily submerged. Trapped porpoise canthen leap out of the confines of the net. Such maneuvering, however, isdifficult, particularly under rough water conditions and, if notcarefully conducted, such maneuvering can cause damage to the net andloss of the netted fish. Additionally, side fishing places a tremendousstrain on the net and the net retrieving gear, particularly under roughconditions where the fishing boat undergoes a rapid roll. A furtherdisadvantage with conventional side fishing lies in the difficultyinvolved in recovering the fish from the net and transferring such fishinto the holds of the fishing boat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a major object of the present invention to provide a stern fishingsystem utilizing a power block and a purse seine net wherein the nettedfish are rapidly and safely transferred onto a fishing boat, with suchsystem permitting porpoises trapped in the net to escape therefromunharmed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a stern fishingsystem which minimizes the strain placed on the net and the netretrieving gear.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a stern fishingsystem of the aforedescribed nature wherein the fishing boat is providedwith a stern aperture through which netted fish are directly introducedas the net is being retrieved.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a sternfishing system wherein the stern of the fishing boat is provided with anovel swinging-grabber for the purse rings of the net.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the stern fishingsystem thereof may be utilized with conventional fishing boats and gear.

Other important objects and advantages of the stern fishing system ofthe present invention will become apparent from the following detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-4 are diagrammatic illustrations showing a purse seine net beingdeployed at the start of a fish capturing operation utilizing apreferred form of stern fishing system embodying the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the net being pursed;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the pursed net as it isbeing retrieved onto the stern of the fishing boat;

FIG. 7 a side elevational view showing the pursed net being towedforwardly so as to permit the escape of porpoise from within the net;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view showing the pursed net being towedforwardly so as to permit the escape of porpoise from within the net;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view in enlarged scale showing astern aperture which may be utilized with the stern fishing system ofthe present invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing details of the stern fishingsystem embodying the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of a swinging purse ring grabberutilized with the stern fishing system of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a broken perspective view of said purse ring grabber.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, a preferred form of stern fishing systemembodying the present invention is utilized with a fishing boat Bprovided at its rear portion with a bin 20 wherein a conventional purseseine net N is stored when the fishing boat is underway. The net N iscommonly termed a seine net. A seine net of this type includes a floator cork line 22 which as its name implies has a number of corks, floatsor other buoyant bodies 23 attached thereto at spaced intervals. Anelongated wall or panel of webbing 24 is supported from the cork line22. The lower edge of the webbing panel 24 is affixed by bridles 25 to aplurality of pursing rings 26. The pursing rings 26 removably receive apurse line 27. The purse line 27 is adapted to have its length reducedso as to "purse" the lower portion of the webbing panel together in aconventional manner. Fishing boat B is provided with a conventionalpower block P and a conventional deck winch W.

Fishing boat B is operated in conjunction with conventional poweredskiff 28. The fishing boat B is provided with a downwardly andrearwardly extending stern ramp 30 whereon is pivotally mounted a novelswigning grabber G for retrieving the purse rings 25 of the net N.Fishing boat B is also provided with a stern aperture 34, shownparticularly in FIGS. 9 and 10 that leads forwardly and upwardly fromthe transom area of the boat B, and through which fish are directlyunloaded from the net N as such net is being retrieved.

More particularly, the upper end of stern ramp 30 merges into agenerally horizontal platform 40 whereon is mounted the purse ringgrabber G. Referring particularly to FIGS. 10-12, ring grabber Gincludes a generally U-shaped frame, with the free ends of the legs 42thereof being pivotally supported within brackets 44 secured to theplatform 40. The distal ends of the legs 42 are bridged by a crosspiece46. The intermediate portions of legs 42 are affixed to the oppositesides of a crossbar 48 which carries a plurality of purse ring-receivingprongs 50. The crosspiece 46 supports three like blocks 52, 53 and 54.Ring grabber G is swingably movable fore and aft between an initialforwardly and upwardly extending position shown in FIG. 10, and arearwardly extending position shown in solid outline in FIG. 11 by meansof a pair of pivotally mounted power cylinders 56. Such power cylindersmay be air or hydraulically actuated in a conventional manner. With thering grabber G in its rearward position, its elevation will bemaintained by a pair of support rods 58 having their upper endspivotally secured to the legs 42. Preferably, cross-piece 46 and hencethe angle of prongs 50 may be adjusted by means of a conventional pinionand latch mechanism 59 shown particularly in FIG. 12. With thisarrangement, prongs 50 may be pivoted forwardly so as to avoid contactwith the underside of skiff 28. Also, the angle of such prongs can bevaried so as to facilitate movement of purse rings 26 relative thereto.

The stern aperture 34 is defined by the rear end of a generallyrectangular, longitudinally extending tunnel 60 formed on the hull ofboat B. Such aperture is surrounded by an extended lip 62. Apower-operated conveyor 64 is disposed within tunnel 60 and may be ofthe type shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,880, issued June 4, 1963. Suchpatent is also directed to a stern fishing arrangement. The upper end ofthe conveyor 64 is in communication with a fish chute 66 (FIG. 10) thatleads to the interior of the boat B for transfer of the fish holdsthereof (not shown). A pivoted water-right gate 70 is provided at theaft end of fish chute 66.

In the operation of the aforedescribed stern fishing system, the fishingboat B will proceed to the fishing grounds with the skiff 28 and net Narranged as shown in FIG. 1, i.e., the skiff rests upon the stern ramp30 with its underside in abutment with the forwardly and upwardlyextending ring grabber G, and with the net N contained within bin 20.When the boat B reaches the school of fish, the skiff 28 is launched offthe stern ramp 30. The ring grabber G may be caused to swing towards itsaft position to assist in the launching of the skiff. In FIG. 2, theskiff 28 has been launched, and it will be noted that one end of the netN is attached to such skiff together with one end of cork line 22 andpurse line 26. As indicated in FIG. 10, the opposite end of net Nremains within the bin 20.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the skiff 24 lies idle in the water andthe fishing boat B powers away therefrom. During such movement of theboat B, the net N plays out of the bin 20. The fishing boat B proceedsin a generally circular path relative to the idle skiff 24 until the netN has been encircled about a suspected school of fish. When the end ofnet N carried by the fishing boat B has been played out, a cork tow line80 is attached to the end of the cork line 22 and purse line 27 islikewise let out so as to permit the end of the net N carried by theboat B to trail behind the boat as the boat completes the net layingoperation. This minimizes the danger of entangling the boat and the net.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the cork tow line 90 has been retrieved andboth ends of the purse line 27 have been winched insofar as to begin theclosing of the lower portion of the net. It is important to note thatduring the net setting and pursing operation, the ring grabber G isdisposed in its rearwardly extending position shown in FIG. 12 in solidoutline.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the opposite ends of the purse line 27 extendthrough blocks 53 and 54 to the aforementioned deck winch W. The corktow line 80 extends through block 52 to the same winch. When the end ofthe net, which was initially secured to the skiff 28, is drawn adjacentthe transom of the boat B, such net end is secured around the lip 62 ofthe stern aperture 34 by means of a turnbuckle 65, as shown in FIG. 9.

After the purse line 27 has been pursed, the rings 26 will be arrangedas shown in solid outline in FIG. 11, i.e., such rings 26 and bridles 25will be disposed adjacent the free end of the rearwardly extended ringgrabber G. Thereafter, the ring grabber G will be swung forwardly bymeans of the power cylinders 56, as shown in dotted outline in FIG. 11,assisted, if necessary, by a line (not shown) extending from thecrosspiece 46 to the winch W. With continued reference to FIG. 11, andalso to FIG. 12, as indicated by the phantom outline showing of the ringgrabber G in this figure, once the ring grabber G has been swung to itsforwardly and upwardly extending position, the purse rings 26 will bedisposed forward of the prongs 50. The ends of purse line 27 are thenslacked off, whereby the rings 26 will abut the prongs 50. With therings 26 so abutting such prongs, the ring bridles 25 and hence net Nwill be securely retained to boat B and the purse line 27 can bewithdrawn from the purse rings 26.

Power block P may then be actuated so as to progressively raise andgather the net N for stacking same within the confines of bin 20. As thenet N is progressively raised and gathered, the purse rings 26 willprogressively be lifted from contact with the prongs 50 and convenientlymay be stowed along the bin 20.

While net N is being progressively raised and gathered by the powerblock P, fish contained therewithin will be progressively urged intostern aperture 34 and onto the lower portion of the conveyor 64. Suchfish will be moved forwardly and upwardly by the conveyor 64 through thetunnel 60 until such fish fall onto the fish chute 66 for transfer intoa fish hold. Movement of the fish into the stern aperture 34 isfacilitated by the buoyant condition of the fish, inasmuch as the sternaperture 34 is below the water level. Moreover, since the fish areemptied from the net N in a gradual manner rather than being jammedtogether, the danger of injuring the fish is minimized.

It is an important feature of the present invention that porpoisetrapped within net N with the tuna or other fish which are to beretained, may be readily freed from such net without injury. Thus,referring to FIG. 7, with the net N partially or fully pursed, the tunaor other fish normally move towards the lower confines of the net. Theporpoise, on the other hand, normally swim in the upper confines of thenet. In order to permit the porpoise to escape, it is only necessary topower the fishing boat B forwardly whereby the aft portion of the corkline 22 and hence, the net N, will be temporarily submerged, asindicated in FIG. 8. Upon such submergence of the net, the porpoise arefree to escape. The tuna or other fish, however, will tend to remainwithin the net since they will continue to swim at an elevation lowerthan that to which the net N is submerged. After the porpoise haveescaped, the speed of the fishing boat will be reduced and the cork linewill bring the net up to its normal position.

It should also be noted that the net N may easily be kept free of boat Bby merely moving the boat in a forward direction periodically. It shouldlikewise be noted that maintaining the net N aft of the boat B minimizesthe strain on the net N, its associated lines and the net retrievinggear mounted on boat B, as compared to a conventional side fishingarrangement. This is particularly true when fishing under roughconditions. It should likewise be noted that the stern aperture 34 neednot be blocked off. Hence, the aperture is always ready for a fishloading operation inasmuch as it need not be ungated. Moreover,utilizing an open stern aperture will not create any adversenavigational problems, nor affect the fishing boat's sea worthinesssince the gate 70 is disposed above the water line of the boat.

Finally, it will be noted that existing conventional fishing boats maybe readily modified in order to utilize the stern fishing system of thepresent invention.

Various modifications and changes may be made with respect to theforegoing detailed description without departing from the spirit of thepresent invention.

I claim:
 1. Stern fishing apparatus for use with a fishing boat having astern ramp, a power block and a purse seine net provided with a purseline and purse rings and bridles, said apparatus comprising:a purse ringgrabber carried on said boat adjacent the stern ramp for fore and aftswinging movement between a forwardly extending position and arearwardly extending position; a plurality of purse ring-receivingprongs mounted upon the intermediate portion of said grabber;power-operated means to swing said grabber between its said twopositions; and purse ring-receiving blocks secured to the distal end ofsaid grabber, with said purse rings being disposed aft of said prongswhen said grabber is in its rearwardly extending position, and with saidrings moving above and forwardly of said prongs as said grabber is swungto its forwardly extending position, whereby said rings may be abuttedwith said prongs to temporarily retain said ring bridles to said grabberas said power block retrieves said net aboard said boat.
 2. Sternfishing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein:said boat is providedwith a stern aperture and means to temporarily secure said net to saidstern aperture as said power block retrieves said net aboard said boatwhereby fish trapped in said net will be progressively urged into saidstern aperture.
 3. Stern fishing apparatus as set forth in claim 1,wherein:said grabber includes a generally U-shaped frame having the sidelegs thereof pivotally secured to said boat, the distal end of said legsbeing bridged by a crosspiece to which is secured said pursering-receiving blocks, and the intermediate portions of said legs beingaffixed to a crossbar which carries said purse ring-receiving prongs. 4.Stern fishing apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein:said boat isprovided with a stern aperture and means to temporarily secure said netto said stern aperture as said power block retrieves said net aboardsaid boat whereby fish trapped in said net will be progressively urgedinto said stern aperture.
 5. Stern fishing apparatus as set forth inclaim 3, wherein:said power-operated means include power-cylinder meansinterposed between said boat and said legs.
 6. Stern fishing apparatusas set forth in claim 3, wherein:said legs are provided with supportrods engageable with said boat when said grabber is in its rearwardlyextending position.
 7. Stern fishing apparatus as set forth in claim 3,wherein:the angle of said purse ring-receiving prongs relative to saidlegs is adjustable.
 8. Stern fishing apparatus as set forth in claim 5,wherein:said legs are provided with support rods engageable with saidboat when said grabber is in its rearwardly extending position.
 9. Sternfishing apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein:the angle of saidpurse ring-receiving prongs relative to said legs is adjustable.